The e36 M3 has reach collector status and it is probably wise at this point to switch from a conventional insurer to Hagerty, which is stated value and super easy to do. All of my M3's from the e30 to e46 are insured by Hagerty for this very reason that is the subject of the thread.

You hire an independent appraiser to value the vehicle. Your insurance company does the same. If the appraisers can't agree on value they decide on a 3rd appraiser to act as umpire to make a final decision.

The beauty of this is that independent appraisers aren't bound by internal insurance company rules. They will be open to comparable vehicles from around the country. You show a couple BAT and Ebay sold comps for $15k. That is the value. Comparables carry much more weight than book value.

It is the other driver's insurance company. I asked them about appraisal and they said no. My insurance company (Progressive) suggested the same thing. Unfortunately, I wasn't carrying comprehensive at the time, or I would get Progressive to pay for it and then let them deal with Allstate.

It is the other driver's insurance company. I asked them about appraisal and they said no. My insurance company (Progressive) suggested the same thing. Unfortunately, I wasn't carrying comprehensive at the time, or I would get Progressive to pay for it and then let them deal with Allstate.

That's a bummer.

What is the small claims court limit in your state?

If you are over the small claims limit it might be worth hiring an attorney.
If you do all the work on the vehicle value and have a presentable package.
The attorney will have to do minimal work. Rate could be $500 - $1k.

If Allstate is offering $6k or $7k on a veh worth low to mid teens it would be worth it.

They are offering "actual cash value" of $4,400 plus tax and fees. That's less than the rebuilt titles out there.

From my research, my car, 98 M3/4/5 black on black, should be in the $7k-10K range. I have maintained two files, one with all the cars, and one with a few outliers removed. With the outliers, it calculates to about $8,600, and without it calculates just over $7,000. Obviously, I will be sending them calculations based on the entire data set since that benefits me.

It has 189,000 miles, but is in good mechanical condition with a few normal cosmetic flaws. I paid $6,750 for it, including a second set of wheels, about 9 months ago with 180,000 miles at that time. Based on the market increases since then, I should be making a slight profit on the insurance payoff, but at this point I will be happy just to get my money back out of it. It would be nice if I could get my money out of it, and keep it as a parts car.

Last edited by tsmith25; Wed, May-10-2017 at 03:57:41 PM.
Reason: make it prettier

The e36 M3 has reach collector status and it is probably wise at this point to switch from a conventional insurer to Hagerty, which is stated value and super easy to do. All of my M3's from the e30 to e46 are insured by Hagerty for this very reason that is the subject of the thread.

That's great info. I had no idea that was even an option. If my car doesn't get totalled out, i'll be doing that!

They are offering "actual cash value" of $4,400 plus tax and fees. That's less than the rebuilt titles out there.

From my research, my car, 98 M3/4/5 black on black, should be in the $7k-10K range. I have maintained two files, one with all the cars, and one with a few outliers removed. With the outliers, it calculates to about $8,600, and without it calculates just over $7,000. Obviously, I will be sending them calculations based on the entire data set since that benefits me.

It has 189,000 miles, but is in good mechanical condition with a few normal cosmetic flaws. I paid $6,750 for it, including a second set of wheels, about 9 months ago with 180,000 miles at that time. Based on the market increases since then, I should be making a slight profit on the insurance payoff, but at this point I will be happy just to get my money back out of it. It would be nice if I could get my money out of it, and keep it as a parts car.

I have never been in this type of situation specifically, but if I were in your shoes the first thing that would come to mind for me is to file a civil suit against the other driver. At the end of the day, the other driver is at fault and damaged your property and his insurance is obviously trying to get away with paying as little as possible which can very easily be shown is below market value of your vehicle.

I think at this point the other driver isn't directly involved nor does he care how much his insurance is going to pay you. What he will care about is being taken to court b/c his insurance company isn't playing ball. Hell I would imagine, even having a lawyer draft a letter stating intent that you will go after the driver directly for the difference might be enough to get him to start putting pressure on his own insurance.

Sorry for the lateness just realized I had only followed up on bimmerforums.

Thank you to everyone who sent PM's of their purchases/sales. I'll try recap my experience and give some tips to close out this thread.

TL/DR - definitely get yourself into an agreed value policy if you can.

If you didn't get yourself an agreed valued policy, clean the car up before the adjuster gets there. They are looking for every excuse to de-value the car, don't give them any. I cleaned the interior and gave the car a quick wipe down and it helped increase the condition the car was given. Clean up any fogging in the headlights, stuff like that.

The value you they give you from whatever computer/book they look up in is just a starting point, it is not an end all be all number. Find comparable cars through the same platform your insurance company gives you comparables through, my insurance company only accepted comparables from autotrader. Double check whatever comparables they send you, I did a search of the vins they gave and they "mis-typed" the value of half the cars they sent. Keep your receipts for mods, these seemed to add value regardless of age. Service records didn't seem to matter much unless they were for major rebuilds of some kind. Depending on the insurance company and how many cars are affected (in my case nearly all of denver was affected so insurance companies were in scramble mode) they will play all sorts of games changing comparables and agents around and draw it out, don't be afraid to mention your insurance commissioners name and contact them for help and advice.

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